To Plot, or Not to Plot
by Caskett92
Summary: Booth recruits Max and Russ to foil Sully's plan once he returns, and Max recruits Angela to help take the plan one step further...
1. Chapter 1

"OK, so what are we going do about this guy?" Russ asked, leaning his elbows on the table as Booth finished his pie. "I don't know. That's kinda why I called the two of you," Booth stated, looking back and forth between Russ and Max. "Does she know yet?" Max inquired. "No, and I don't want her to, mainly because I don't know how she would react. Basically, I don't know if I'll have to arrest her for the assault of a federal agent, or if she will decide he's worth another chance," Booth said, with a pained expression on his face for the last bit. Max adopted a thoughtful, if slightly devious, expression as he began formulating a plan. "What are you thinking?" Booth asked with a slightly suspicious and apprehensive tone to his voice. "Oh, nothing much, just wandering down memory lane…" Booth continued to look at Max suspiciously, and was about to begin interrogating him when Russ, having recognized his father's expression, jumped in to distract Booth. "So, how's Parker been lately….?"

*Flashback* 8 hours previously

" Sir, now is not a good time for me to go on an assignment," Booth protested as vehemently and respectfully as he could. "Well I'm sorry if this assignment has come at an inopportune time, Agent Booth, but you're the best man for the job, and it is extremely important that this case is NOT screwed up," Agent Cullen declared, using his characteristic tones of sarcasm and authority. "Maybe if you don't want so many assignments, you shouldn't be so dmn good at your job." Booth sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win this argument. "What is the assignment?" Booth asked through gritted teeth. Cullen brushed that aside with a wave of his hand. "That's not important, we'll get to that later. What I wanted to talk about to you know was you somehow convincing Dr. Brennan to work with someone else while you're gone." Booth had opened his mouth to point out that NO ONE made Dr. Temperance Brennan do something she didn't want to do, but was cut off by Cullen saying "I know, I know she won't do anything if she doesn't want to, but you do have some pull with her, plus I'm going to assign someone who has previous experience working with her." It took Booth a second to realize what Cullen said, but once he did his heart started racing and he started to panic. "Who are you talking about?"

"Well, Agent Sullivan, of course. They worked together well for that one case, and I think that they would do well again if we paired them back up," Cullen said, slightly confused as to why Booth was freaking out. "He's back? When did he get back? I thought he was gone!" "Well, he actually came back very soon after he had left, and asked to be reassigned elsewhere. He got an assignment out of the country and just recently got back." Booth sat back in his chair, trying to determine how Bones would react to this new development. He was more than slightly worried when he realized he had absolutely no clue how she would react. Normally, he would say that she would not want to see Sully, but one of the things he loves about his Bones is that she is unpredictable. She could do anything from punching his lights out to agreeing to date him again. Having come to a decision, Booth leaned forward and said, "Look, I will try to convince her, but I'm not entirely sure that she will be cooperative. What would happen if she refused to work with him?" Cullen pondered this for a minute, then said, "Well, since Dr. Brennan is invaluable to this agency, I would allow you to work with her and send Agent Sullivan on this assignment instead. However, I would prefer that I didn't have to do that. In the strictest confidence, you are the better agent. I think that you should be the one to take this assignment. But for now, you should try to convince Dr. Brennan to be cooperative and work with Agent Sullivan." Booth took this as a dismissal and left, fighting internally with himself, because his dedication to his job made him want this assignment, because he wanted to serve his country and be absolutely sure of the success of the mission, but he really didn't want to leave Bones, especially in the hands of Sully.


	2. Chapter 2

*Present*

Brennan was sitting at her desk, trying to work on her book, but kept getting distracted by thoughts of Booth. He had been acting weird that day, and hadn't even tried to make her eat lunch. It almost seemed like he was avoiding her. Of course, she had gotten to have lunch with Angela, which wasn't something that had been happening recently, but she was still worried. Something was up with Booth, and it was driving Brennan crazy not knowing. "Tempe," Max said, knocking on her office door. Brennan surfaced from her thoughts, "Oh, hi Dad. What's up?" "Oh, nothing. Just wanted to check up on you. What were you thinking about?" Brennan looked down at her desk and shuffled her papers around while responding, "Oh, nothing in particular. Just a case, you know." "Not Booth?" Max inquired, trying not to smile. "No, of course not. Why would I be thinking of Booth? We're just partners." Brennan stated defensively. *She's a horrible liar* was one of the thoughts running through her fathers head. "Oh, ok then. I just thought since he was kind of avoiding you, you might be concerned about why." Brennan looked at her father, a suspicious look in her eye as the wheels in her mind started turning. "How did you know Booth was avoiding me? Do you know why he's avoiding me?" Max inwardly smirked as his daughter tried to hide the worry and insecurity in her voice as she tried to find out what was up with Booth. "I saw him earlier, he looked like he was thinking really hard. I don't know what's going on, I just deduced that there was something wrong." "Dad, just because both of us appeared to be concerned about something at the same time doesn't mean that it has to do with each other." "Yeah, uh-huh honey, I believe you."

Booth sat at his desk, mulling over possible solutions to his "little problem." He gave a little chuckle as the term "little problem" went through his head, remembering how short Sully is. He quickly grew serious again, as he got back to the reality of the issue. The reality was, he was screwed. He could go against his basic personality, and let someone else take the mission, and feel horrible if the mission fails, or he could stick with his nature and risk either his Bones getting extremely PO'd at him, or he could have to see her back with Sully, which he wasn't sure he could handle. Booth groaned in frustration, leaned forward, and rested his forehead in his palms. *Well, I can't do anything right now, so I might as well get started on my paperwork* Booth sat up and pulled his paperwork toward him with another groan. "I HATE paperwork," Booth grumbled under his breath.


	3. Chapter 3

*Later that night*

Outside Brennan's apartment, a man stood in the shadows just outside the reach of the light. He looked at a picture, then squinted towards the man approaching the front door. *It's a match* He quickly moved to intercept the man before he could get inside the building. "Hey, how you doing?" "Um, good, sorry, do I know you?" The other man looked confused, and slightly preoccupied. He wasn't paying very much attention until the mysterious man said, "No, you don't know me, but you do know someone very close to me. I can't let you into this building, Sully." "Wha- how do you know my name? Who do you think you are to prevent me from going into this building? I am an FBI agent, and I am telling you to move and let me through!" Sully said, and rather pompously too, the man thought. "Unless you getting through pertains to a case, I don't HAVE to let you ANYWHERE. And, I'm a relative of Tempe's. That's all you need to know." Sully looked puzzled for a moment, then said, "Aren't all of Tempe's relatives missing or dead? And how do you know me going up there doesn't pertain to a case?" "Just a guess. Leave now. You might be allowed to see her some other time. I can guarantee that you won't be getting past me tonight." Sully looked like he was going to argue some more, but decided against it, thinking he would just go to the Jeffersonian the next day, and left. Max smiled at the frustration apparent on the agents face. *Booth was right* Max thought with a chuckle, *He is short.* He looked towards Russ's car where Russ was waiting for his turn at "guard duty." *There is no way that man is going to see my daughter until Booth gets a chance to talk to her.*

Booth parked in Brennan's apartment parking lot, trying to get up the nerve to go upstairs and tell her Sully was back. He finally heaved a big sigh, got out, and walked to the door. He gave a nod to Max, who nodded back. "Sully show up?" Booth asked. "Yeah, but it wasn't too difficult to get him to go away," Max replied. "Good." With that, Booth walked through the door and went up to Brennan's apartment. He looked at his watch to see what time it was, and winced when he realized just how late it was. He knocked on the door anyway, not wanting Sully to have a chance to ambush her before he talked to her. He was more than slightly surprised when she answered the door promptly after his knock. "Hey." "Booth, what are you doing here?" Brennan questioned, silently relieved that he was no longer avoiding her. She moved aside to let him in, then shut the door. Booth walked over and stood by the couch, feeling too anxious to sit down. "We need to talk, Bones. It's important, and that's why I came here so late," Booth answered. Brennan was a little nervous when she asked, "What about? Is something wrong?" "Well, not necessarily _wrong_, but it is something you should be aware of. Cullen wants me to go on a mission for a little while, says I'm the best for the job. He wants me to convince you to work with someone else while I'm gone," Booth answered, somewhat quickly. Brennan wasn't happy that he would be leaving, but if it was just a short while, she could deal with a new agent. "Ok, but somehow I don't think that's all of it. What else is going on?" she inquired, certain that this wasn't the only reason he was in her apartment. "It's Sully, Bones. That's the agent you would be working with. He's back," Booth said, wondering how she could tell something else was up. He watched Brennan very carefully, wondering how she would react. "Well, I'm sure I could work with him, if he could deal with it." Booth was slightly surprised, but not really at the same time. He feared that they would get together again while working on the cases. "Ok, I'll tell Cullen that everything's ok, and get ready for my trip. I'll only be gone a couple weeks, most likely. It could be up to a month or so, so….." Booth's sentence kinda petered out as he realized he would be gone and he would miss his Bones. A LOT. "Are you ok Booth? You look kinda sad," Brennan asked, concerned about her partner. "I mean, if you don't want me to work with Sully, I won't. I could handle not working cases for a while." "Well, Cullen said that if I couldn't convince you to work with Sully, he could send Sully on the mission and I could keep working with you," Booth said, still torn between the options. "But you want to go on this mission to make sure it's done right, don't you?" Brennan asked, knowing her partner all too well. If something went wrong and he had let Sully go on the mission, he would blame himself for it all, thinking if he had been there it would have been ok. "Yeah, I do. But I don't want you to work with Sully. I want to work with you." Brennan could tell Booth was torn, but couldn't figure out what she should do. She decided to talk to Angela for advice before she decided on a plan of action. "Ok, I'll think about it, and call you later with my decision. Ok Booth?" Booth nodded, and left.


	4. Chapter 4

After exiting Brennan's apartment, Booth leaned his back against the wall and let out a deep breath. *Well, that could have gone worse. But the question is, what do I want her to decide?* Just as confused as his partner, Booth exited the building, said "Good night" to Max and Russ, and went to home to have a beer or four.

Sully sat across from Brennan's apartment building, wondering why Booth was at her place so late at night. *What the HE11 does he think he's doing going to MY GIRLFRIEND'S house late at night?! I KNEW he wanted her! I'm gonna KILL HIM!!* With that last thought, Sully stalked off to his car, a plan all ready for action the next day.

Brennan sat down on her couch, completely confused. She grabbed the phone and called Angela. "Hello?" came a groggy voice. "Hey Ange, what's up?'' Brennan answered, in a pseudo-cheery voice. ''Sweetie, it's like, 2 a.m. Did something happen?" she asked, suddenly concerned and VERY awake. Brennan took a deep breath, and decided to just plunge in. "Sully's back. And Booth is being called to go on a mission and Cullen wants me to continue to work with the FBI while he's gone and he decided Sully would be assigned to work with me, but Booth says that if I don't want to work with Sully he could continue to work with me and Sully would be given the mission, but I know that Booth really wants to go because if it goes wrong and he wasn't there he would blame himself and always wonder if he could have made it work. Also, I don't want to make him stay and then have him blame me if something goes wrong, I really don't want him to resent me." "Whoa, sweetie, slow down! One, Sully's back? How do you feel about that?" Brennan was confused about Angela's question. "What? I'm fine. He gave me a choice, I said no. We're over. I'm fine. I'm just confused over what I should do. Should I let Booth go, or should I keep him here?" Angela considered the situation before speaking. "I think you should let him go. I know he wants to, and if you're ok with Sully and really done with him, make sure Booth knows that before he goes." "Why?" "Because he obviously thinks that you are going to give Sully another chance." Brennan was stunned and more than a little confused now. "No……Why would he think that? And why would that upset him?" Ange laughed. "Sweetie, you may be a genius, but sometimes you are just completely clueless. He's upset because, one, Sully left you once, and Booth would kill anyone he thinks would hurt you, and two, he's in love with you." Brennan interrupted. "But-" Ange cut her off. "No, sweetie, I'm right. He had enough problems seeing you two together the first time, and you two have just gotten closer since then." Brennan mulled over that for a second, then, deciding arguing was useless, and said, "So I should let him go?" Angela smiled at the lack of argument, and said, "Make sure he knows you and Sully have no chance of getting together, but yeah, let him go." "Ok. Thanks Ange. I don't know what I would do without you." "No problem sweetie. Good night." "Good night, Ange." Angela hung up the phone, a pleased smile on her face. "Who was that?" inquired a mostly asleep Hodgins. "Oh, just someone who's leaving the state of denial. Finally," Angela said, a smirk on her face. "Oh, ok baby." With that, Hodgins rolled over and went back to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Sully was stalking outside the Jeffersonian, waiting for Temperance to show up, when he noticed a guy he hadn't seen before look at him intently, then look at what appeared to be a photograph. He watched the guy check out the picture again, then start to walk toward him. After last night, he was slightly on guard for whoever this psycho would say he was.

"Hey man, what's up?" the guy said to Sully.

"Nothing that's your business." Sully said with obvious scorn.

"Well, if you're Sully, I believe it is my business."

"Great, another psycho who thinks he's related to Tempe?" Sully asked, getting a little fed up with all this crap.

"Not a psycho, just her BROTHER. Now, I'm not going to stop you from talking to her, but I will warn you: If you hurt her, you will pay. And that is a very simple fact. I thought you should be aware of that before you try ANYTHING that may hurt her. Understand?" Russ asked, with a menacing tone to his voice.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Can you leave me alone now? I'm waiting for Tempe," Sully said with an air of dismissal. Russ walked away, knowing that this guy would not believe him. And he couldn't wait for this guy to give him an excuse to kick his ass.

*Not that it would take a lot,* Russ thought. *He's a jerk.*

Sully looked after the guy claiming to be Tempe's brother, and let out a contemptuous snort.

*Like he could ever do anything to hurt me. Ha, yeah right.* Sully waited around until about 9 a.m., but saw no sign of Tempe. He decided he'd go to some of her old haunts, to see if she was hanging at any of them. As he was getting in his car, he saw Booth's SUV drive into the Jeffersonian parking lot. He gritted his teeth as he saw Brennan get out of the vehicle.

*Why the hell are they ALWAYS together? Are they dating now?* Sully was a little worried and disturbed by this, but shook it off.

*No, neither Brennan nor Booth would date someone they work with.* Comforted with that last thought, Sully waited until Booth and Brennan entered the Jeffersonian before following them in.

"Look, Booth, I've made my decision." Booth looked slightly apprehensive at her words as he sat on the couch in her office.

"I can work with Sully while you are on your mission." Booth looked crestfallen, and worried.

"Booth, I need you to know something. Sully and I are over. I'm not going to take him back. Yes, he gave me a decision, and yes, I decided to stay. But he didn't care enough to stay for me. He's not here for the long haul. I'm not going to go back to him, let him in, and maybe get hurt again," Brennan said, looking toward Booth to see his reaction.

He looked relieved, and, to Brennan's surprise, she felt relieved too.

"Well, if that's what you want to do, I'm ok with that," Booth said, trying to keep the ecstatic joy from his face at the thought of Brennan and Sully _not_ getting back together.

"Yeah, I think it's the best choice. You can go on your mission, and I can still get out into the field and help the FBI work on cases," Brennan replied, happy she took Angela's advice.

"So….I should go talk to Cullen. Like I said, I'll be gone at most a month. Most likely, it would be way less than that," Booth stated, now eager to get on with his mission.

"Ok. So, when will I be seeing Sully?" Brennan asked.

"How about now?" Came a voice from the doorway.

"Oh, hi Sully. So, you up to working with me again?" Brennan asked.

"Well yeah Tempe. I was kinda hoping we could talk in private?" Sully asked, hoping Booth would get the hint.

"There's no reason for us to be talking in private. We're working together, and that's IT," Brennan said firmly.

Sully appeared to be undeterred. "I want to talk to you, Tempe. And I think it would be easier away from Booth," Sully said insistently.

Brennan looked at Booth, and they appeared to have a short, silent argument before Booth nodded and left the room.

"What?" Brennan asked irritably.

"Well, I was just hoping that we could come to an understanding concerning what happened."

"What about it? You asked me to come with you, I said no, we broke up. It's actually very simple," Brennan said, rather impatiently.

*Why doesn't this guy get it?* she asked herself in frustration.

"We did NOT break up, Tempe. I took a vacation without you. That's all."

"You LEFT ME for a YEAR. You did not call, you did not write, you made no effort to contact me at all. It's OVER. If you can't accept that, then I'll call Cullen and tell him you are unable to work with me."

Sully looked taken aback at her tone, which was very firm, and decided on a course of action. "Ok, fine. I get it. I can put aside our past and work with you until Booth gets back. Ok?" Brennan was confused. One minute Sully was raving psycho man, the next he seemed hyper-rational.

"Ok. If you think it will be too difficult, TELL CULLEN. I don't want to have to deal with your issues and a case simultaneously," Brennan stated, winning the last word in the argument. Sully turned and walked out of her office, and Brennan sat down heavily at her desk, resting her forehead in her palms in exactly the same way Booth had the previous day.

*This is going to be a hard couple weeks,* Brennan thought exasperatedly.


	6. Chapter 6

While Brennan and Sully talked, Booth decided to go to the diner for some nice, relaxing pie. When he got there, he noticed Russ and Max sitting at a table as far away from the door as possible. Neither one of them appeared to notice him, so he walked up to say hi.

"So, you're saying that we should….Oh, Hi Booth. What's up?" Booth looked at Russ in a scrutinizing fashion, wondering why he had been talking so quietly for the first half of his sentence.

"Brennan's taking to Sully right now, but I think everything's ok. She told him in no uncertain terms that the only time they would be together would be while they were working on a case," Booth seemed very happy for a man who was so recently torn up, which did not escape Max's notice.

*Something else went down. Something more than her telling Sully it was over. And I'm going to figure out what it was,* Max decided.

He knew EXACTLY who he needed to talk to. Booth and Russ continued with some idle chitchat, with only an occasional comment from Max. Anyone on the outside of the conversation would notice that Max was very preoccupied, Booth was VERY happy (and oblivious), and Russ was nervous that Booth would ask what they had been talking about before he approached them.

Angela was sitting at her desk in the Jeffersonian, studying a skull that needed a reconstruction, when she heard a knock on her door. She turned, and was more than a little surprised to see Max Keenan standing in her doorway.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" Max asked.

"Sure, I guess. What about?" Angela asked, wondering what was up. *It's probably about Brennan…but what? Is something wrong?*

Max took a deep breath and just plunged right in. "Well, I saw Booth last night at the diner. I know he had been torn about a decision that would leave Sully as Temperance's partner, but he seemed really happy. He said it was because Tempe told Sully that they were over, but he was far too happy for just that to have happened. Do you know what might have happened?"

Angela let out a little chuckle, "Yeah, I might know. Brennan called me, worried about what she should do. Booth was letting her choose. I told her to let Booth go, but assure him that absolutely NOTHING would be happening between her and Sully. Since Booth is completely in love with her, this would make him very, very happy that he could do his job and not worry about Brennan being with Sully again."

Max looked thoughtful for a minute, then nodded, accepting that this situation would fit Booths mood much better. "Angela, would you like to help me with something?" Max asked, deciding that Angela could help him and Russ with their little plan.

"With what?" Angela asked, looking intrigued.

"Well, it involves Booth and Tempe…."

"I'm in!"

Max smiled at Angela's enthusiasm.

"OK, so here's what I need you to do…"


	7. Chapter 7

*In the diner, lunchtime*

"Ok, so I will be leaving tomorrow. I should be back soon, though. Ok, buddy? Ok, I gotta go. I will talk to you soon. Bye buddy." Booth hung up the phone, going back to his pie and hoping Parker would understand.

"Booth, he'll be fine. He's old enough, he understands," Brennan told Booth, knowing he was worrying about how Parker would react.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure he'll be fine," Booth said, seemingly still deep in thought. Brennan waved a fry in front of his face.

"Hey, Earth to Booth. He will be fine. You know that. Just quit worrying, ok?" The expression on Booths face told her he wasn't going to stop worrying any time soon.

"Ok, TRY not to worry AS much, ok? If you want, I could call him or check up on him every once in a while, make sure he's ok. Would that help?"

The thought of his Bones helping Parker out and reassuring him made him feel a lot better.

"Yeah, Bones, that would be great. That would be really… great." Booth leaned forward, elbows resting on the table, a little smile on his face.

Booth and Brennan shared a "moment," which lasted almost a minute, until a voice interrupted them.

"Hey, Tempe, we got a case," Sully said, far too cheerfully for Booth's taste.

"Ok, well, I'll see you later, Booth. Dinner tonight? About 8? We still have some paperwork to finish," Brennan said, getting her wallet out as she stood up.

"Yeah, I'll pick up some Wong Foo's, meet you at your house. Bye. See ya, Sully," Booth said as Brennan put some money on the table and walked out with Sully. Booth allowed himself a little smirk as he went back to his pie.

*The look on Sully's face… Priceless.*

Later that night, at about seven o' clock, as Booth was waiting for his order to be up, he noticed someone familiar approaching him out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey Booth," Max Keenan greeted.

"Hey Max, what's up?"

"I just wanted to talk to you for a minute. I know this mission is important to you, and you would do anything to make sure it would succeed. I also know that Tempe has let you in more than anyone else. She trusts you, and if you don't come back, it will break her heart. If you have to let your mission fail to come back to her, then that's what you should do."

"I know that. Don't think I don't. I also know that if I don't come back, she will most likely never open up to anyone. And I will do my absolute best to make sure I come back. But I cannot fail this mission. She knows that. I would NEVER intentionally leave her. The only way I would leave her is if I died," Booth said, very adamantly.

"You love her, don't you?" Max asked, knowing full well what the answer was. Booth hesitated, then decided he couldn't avoid the question like he had when Sully asked.

"Yes, yes I do. And the last thing I would do would be to hurt her."

Max nodded, getting the confirmation he needed.

"Ok. I believe you." Booths order was up, so he grabbed his food and left, headed towards his house to call Parker one more time before heading to Brennan's apartment.

Max took the voice recorder out of his pocket, and hit stop. He also took the mini camera pin that he had gotten (from a source not to be named [ok, it was stolen]) and turned it off also. He sat down and let Sid serve him while he waited for his "accomplice" to show up.

*Meanwhile, back at the ranch (AKA The Jeffersonian)*

"Hey sweetie, you got a new case?"

Brennan looked up from her paperwork as Angela walked into her office.

"No, it was pretty straightforward. It was a suicide. What's up?"

"Well, I felt like I should talk to you before Booth leaves on his mission. I just wanted to make sure that you're sure you want him to go. You know there's a chance he might not come back," Angela said, trying to soften the blow a little.

"Yes, Angela, it was something I weighed before making my decision. I know that he will come back," Brennan answered confidently.

Angela smiled a little, then asked, "How do you know? That sounds a lot like faith to me."

Brennan waved her hand in dismissal. "It's not faith. He's the best. Cullen wouldn't send him on a mission he might not survive. He knows he has a kid who loves him."

"Sweetie, no matter what you say, you have faith in that man."

"Faith is the irrational belief in something that is logically impossible. I know that Booth will try his absolute hardest to come back to Parker."

Angela started nodding at "irrational belief" and had a response ready at "Booth."

"You know he'll come back for you, don't you."

It wasn't a question.

"Ange, that's irrational. We're just partners," Brennan said, shaking her head.

"Brennan, are you saying you don't have any feelings for him at all? None, other than a platonic friendship? You wouldn't be totally lost, and feel completely betrayed and depressed if he died?" Angela watched Brennan start shaking her head again, but she stopped soon, an expression often associated with an epiphany on her face.

*Oh my god… When did I fall in love with Booth?* She looked up at Angela, surprise in her eyes.

"How did you-"

"Sweetie, absolutely EVERYONE who has EVER seen you two together could tell you that you're in love with each other. Think of the number of people who have assumed that over the years. Could they all be wrong? Plus, you know I know things like this. It's like a sixth sense."

Brennan ignored the fact that she could refute the fact that many people all sharing an opinion would be right, and that there is no sixth sense, and tried to absorb the impact of her epiphany.

"So, I love Booth. And you've known for FOUR YEARS? Why didn't you tell me?"

Angela laughed at this. "Sweetie, I DID tell you. Many, MANY times. You didn't want to hear it. There was something about a line, and "It's BOOTH," and various other lame excuses."

Brennan was speechless as she realized her best friend was right.

"Ok sweetie, I'll see you later. Don't you have plans in like, an hour?" Angela swept out of Brennan's office, satisfied with a job well done.

She turned off her voice recorder and took the mini camera in her necklace and turned it off too. After making sure Brennan was wrapping everything up, she headed to Wong Foo's to get some dinner and finish her part of the plan.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey, just a quick authors note, the notation ** means either a thought or a change in location.

***At Wong Foo's.***

"Ok, so you're sure that you can composite the voice with the video on your laptop and make copies?" Max asked, hoping Angela could.

"Yeah, definitely. It should only take me a couple minutes," Angela said, booting up her laptop and plugging the recording devices in.

In about five minutes, Angela had two perfect videos ready for delivery.

"Call me once you have them delivered, ok?" Angela said as Max got up to leave.

"Yeah, no problem. That's the least I can do since you're helping me so much."

"Thanks."

"Thank you." With a last emphatic statement, Max walked out the door, ready to do some matchmaking.

Sully sat outside Brennan's apartment at about a quarter to eight, doing some "surveillance work," or at least, that's his cover story.

What he was really doing was making sure that Booth left sometime before midnight.

*That man has NO BUSINESS being at Tempe's house, even if it is 'just for paperwork.' Which is highly doubtful. Paperwork could be done at their offices. Something's up, and I'm going to find out what.*

With that last thought, Sully turned his attention to the dark haired man entering the building.

*Isn't that the guy who said he was Tempe's brother? What the hell is he doing here? Tempe's not even home yet.*

Sully got out of his car and began "stealthily" approaching the building. He was so focused on the dark haired man, he didn't notice Max hiding in the shadows watching his every move.

*Ya know, he's really annoying. Maybe I should have taken care of him like I did Michael.* Max thought, remembering what a jerk that guy was.

Once inside, Sully headed up to Tempe's apartment. He met the dark haired man just outside her door.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sully demanded.

"I'm dropping something off at my sister's house, not that it's any of your business. Do you mind?" Russ asked when Sully showed no signs of backing off.

"Yeah, I do. I'm her partner now, and it's my job to protect her from psychos. Now hand me what you were going to leave, and if I decide it's not dangerous, I'll give it to Tempe myself."

Russ shrugged and said, "Fine, have it your way."

He handed Sully the little package, and walked to the elevator to go downstairs. Sully took the next elevator, after making sure that the guy wasn't coming back.

*Great, now I gotta go check this out. I guess I'll just have to hurry so I can get back and stake out her apartment later tonight.*

Sully walked out to his car and left, planning on finding out what it was that was so important it couldn't wait until Tempe was home.

"Sully took the package. Good thing we made copies, huh?" Russ laughed as he met up with his dad.

"Yeah, I kinda figured he would try something. Eh, it's better if we deliver this after Booth leaves tonight. Come on, let's head to Booth's apartment to deliver his half of this particular gift."

About two minutes after Russ and Max left, Brennan showed up, completely unaware that anything out of the ordinary had occurred. She walked up to her apartment, suddenly nervous about Booth coming over.

*Oh just stop it. Just because you figured something out doesn't mean that everything's going to change immediately. He probably won't even know I figured anything new out. At least, not unless you slip up. Just act natural. Be calm. Breathe.*

Once Brennan was inside, she got all the paperwork on the coffee table and grabbed a couple beers from the fridge and set them on the coffee table. She then picked up one of the beers and opened it, hoping it would help her calm herself down.

Booth was standing just outside Brennan's apartment, trying to calm himself down a little. *Ok Booth, everything will be just fine. She won't know. Max wouldn't have told her, at least, not this soon. She probably won't even know that you've finally admitted you love her… ok, SNAP OUT OF IT. Just calm down. Breathe. Act NATURAL.* Taking a deep breath, he got his usual grin back on his face, and knocked on the door.

*Oh my god, he's here. I should have canceled. No, it's just paperwork, nothing more. Canceling would have been weird. Oh just stop it, this isn't high school. Now open the door before he thinks you've been kidnapped or something.* Brennan took a deep breath, calmed herself a little, and opened the door.

***Same time, at the Hodgins-Montenegro residence* **

Angela was pacing back and forth in her and Hodgins bedroom, wondering how the evening would turn out.

Max's plan was very simple.

Get recorded proof of each of them admitting they loved the other, and slip the evidence into the other persons apartment. If everything went according to plan, they would know each other's feeling by morning.

*It would be about damn time! I've been waiting for her to jump him for YEARS!!! I wonder if Booth's good in bed…. Who am I kidding, of COURSE he is! The cocky belt buckle says it all.*

Angela slowed her pacing, a distracted, slightly dreamy look coming over her face. She mentally shook herself.

*Focus, Angela, Focus! What if it doesn't work? Or,* Angela thought with horror, *What if neither one of them makes a move?! Argh, if they don't I will lock them up and refuse to let them out until they have lots and lots of sex. They have a LOT of time to make up for, they can't waste any of it.*

With this last comforting thought, Angela went to the entertainment room to join Hodgins in watching a movie.

*Yeah, because we _watch_ movies together…* With a chuckle, Angela sat down next to Hodgins on the very, very comfortable, very large couch in the entertainment room.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I noticed it was hard to distinguish between place changes, so I'm helping out a little.

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Sully turned off his computer, not believing what he'd heard, and feeling slightly sick to his stomach.

*If she had to choose, she would choose him. I left her, and even if I did give her a choice, she won't see it that way. I knew she had feelings for him, even if she never consciously admitted it, and he never left her by choice.*

With that last, depressing (to him) thought, he grabbed the bottle of whiskey from his kitchen and sat down on his couch, intending to get completely and fully wasted to try and forget his epiphany.

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Booth and Brennan finished their paperwork and food around 11, neither of them noticing that the other was nervous. They just sat around for a while, with some idle chitchat to postpone the reality of the next day. Because, the next day, Booth would be leaving. And neither one of them wanted that. So it was about a quarter after midnight when there was a knock on Brennan's door.

With a slightly puzzled look on her face, Brennan stood up to get the door. A very drunk Sully stood on the other side.

"Why are you still here?" He slurred, pointing in the general vicinity of Booth. "I thought you were 'just partners' Tempe. Does that mean that I'll get to hang out with you until all hours of the night?"

"Sully, obviously you've had a lot to drink. We just finished up our paperwork, and we were just chatting a little before Booth left. You should go home and sleep it off, ok?" Brennan reasoned, hoping Sully was able to understand and get home.

"You- and you-" some unintelligible slurring, and Sully was down for the count. He swayed, then passed out cold in Brennan's doorway.

*sigh* "Booth, could you take him home? I really don't want him staying here tonight," Brennan said, hoping Booth could help.

"Yeah, sure. Do you know what may have made him drink like this? Cuz' he usually doesn't drink until he drops." Brennan thought back to her confession earlier that evening. Unbeknownst to her, Booth was thinking about the exact same thing.

*No, he doesn't know. He couldn't…* Brennan, realizing Booth was waiting for an answer, said, "No, I have no clue."

"Ok, well, I'd better get him home. I'll meet you at the diner for breakfast tomorrow? Is seven ok?" Booth asked as he picked Sully up in a fireman's carry.

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you in the morning. Bye."

"Bye."

Brennan shut the door after Booth and just stood there for a minute, before heading to her room to get ready for bed. While she was brushing her teeth, she heard a knock at the door.

*Who could it be now?* She thought irritably.

"Oh, hi Dad. What are you doing here?" she asked, moving aside to let her dad inside.

"Well, honey, I just wanted to give you this. I thought you should watch it before Booth left on his trip," Max said, handing her a package.

"O-k…" Brennan said slowly, not getting it.

"Well, that's all sweetie. I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" With that, Max let himself out.

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Brennan looked at the package, about the size of her hand.

*I should watch it tonight. But it's late…*

Brennan set the package down on her coffee table and went to bed. She tried to get to sleep, but couldn't. She had this feeling she should watch whatever it was tonight, instead of first thing in the morning. After about two hours of unsuccessful attempts to sleep, she let out a frustrated groan, threw her covers off, and walked into the living room to grab her laptop and the package. She went back to her room and settled on her bed to watch whatever it was her dad wanted her to see. She opened the package to find a USB drive, similar to the one Angela bought when they were out to lunch the other day.

*But why would my dad and Angela be collaborating on something...* Brennan thought as she booted up her computer and plugged in the USB drive.

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Booth dropped Sully off, grateful that he had regained consciousness in time to walk himself into his apartment with minimal assistance. Booth heaved a big sigh and rolled his eyes as he got back into his car to FINALLY go home. Luckily, Sully didn't live more than five minutes from Booth.

*God, I just want to get home, and go to bed.* Booth then thought of what the next day would bring, and decided he didn't want to go home just yet.

*I wonder if the diner's open. I could definitely go for some pie.* Booth grinned a little at the thought of pie and his most recent argument about it with Bones.

*Huh, I wonder if she would like French Silk Pie….she says she doesn't like her fruit cooked, French Silk Pie has no fruit…*

Booth thought about this for a few minutes while driving to the diner and decided he would get some for her when he got back.

*Aw, they're closed! Maybe I can get some pie in the morning.*

With that last hopeful thought, Booth turned the SUV around and headed for home.

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*What the- why is Booth on camera?*

Brennan was confused for a minute, until she realized that it didn't appear that Booth was aware of the camera.

*Are they talking about me?*

Brennan's heart nearly stopped when she heard what Booth said.

*No way….there's no way he said what I think he just said!*

Brennan reversed the video to the part where someone who sounded a lot like her father asked Booth if her loved her. She let it play through "Yes, yes I do," and sat back heavily.

*I- I can't believe this. He loves me? But that means- damn it, Angela was right! But this is a good thing. But what am I supposed to do?*

Brennan just sat there, having gone from disbelief to overjoyed to anxious in about a minute. Considering she usually compartmentalizes her emotions, this was something of an overload and was very exhausting. She thought about her situation for about half an hour before she fell asleep on the couch.

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	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Ok, so there's a little cheese/fluff….ok, maybe a lot, but hey, I'm allowed.

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Booth opened his door and walked inside, immediately noticing the package on the table in his foyer.

*What the hell?*

He was pretty sure that hadn't been there before he left for Brennan's house, and it hadn't been with the mail. He dropped his keys and picked up the package very carefully. He checked it out a little, and, deciding it was safe, opened it up to find a little USB drive and a note. He stared at the USB drive for a second, sure that he had seen Angela with one identical to it just the other day, then looked at the note.

Booth, you should watch this before you leave. And by 'should' I mean if you don't I'll hunt you down and beat you over the head until you do. Also, same thing goes if you don't DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. Now quit reading this letter and watch the video!!!! You have been warned!!!!

Cupid

*Ok, it's from Angela, but that still doesn't explain how it got here or what it is. I guess I will just have to humor her and watch whatever this is.*

While Booth's computer booted up, he got ready for bed, brushing his teeth and changing into his pajamas.

*Ok, so what does Angela have in store for me tonight?* Booth thought as he plugged in the USB drive and opened the video file.

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Booth sat as his computer desk, completely stunned.

*She-she loves me? ME?*

Booth shook his head disbelievingly.

*No...no way. I'm not good enough for her! She's brilliant, and beautiful. She deserves someone who's at least as smart as her. Or someone who hasn't killed someone,* Booth thought, wishing he was good enough.

*I have to talk to Angela. This was her idea anyway...* Booth picked up his phone and dialed, not caring that it was past three a.m.

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Angela woke to the sound of her phone going off at 3:30 a.m.

*Who the hell is calling me this late?!* she thought irritably.

She looked at the caller ID, and, seeing it was Booth, immediately forgave him, knowing he would be freaking out more than a little.

"Hi Booth. Watch any interesting videos lately?" she asked in a completely innocent tone of voice.

"Look, Angela, is this true?" Angela nearly laughed at the hope and anxiety in his voice.

"What exactly are you talking about, Booth?"

"The video that mysteriously got into my house that had Bones on it saying she loved me. Is it true?" he asked, sounding anxious and slightly annoyed now.

"Yes, it is. It's just like I've been saying to both of you FOREVER, you're both completely in love with each other," Angela said amidst a fit of laughter over the expression she imagined on Booth's face.

Booth was silent for a moment.

"Ok... so what do I do?"

Angela laughed again.

"Well, when you see her tomorrow, give her a big, hot, steamy kiss!"

Booth chuckled a little bit at that.

"If I just kiss her out of the blue like that, I'm likely to end up on the ground with her foot at my throat. Unless she knows that I know. Does she?"

He went from sounding slightly amused to extremely suspicious in about two seconds.

"No, she doesn't technically know...but she did kinda get a video very similar to the one you got tonight..." Angela said, waiting for Booth's reaction.

"But how...who?" Booth sounded confused, but clarity came soon enough.

"It was Max, wasn't it."

It wasn't really a question.

"I'm guessing he handled the delivery into my LOCKED apartment," Booth said, once again more of a statement than a question.

"Hey, he had a key," Angela said defensively. "It's not like he picked the lock."

"How did he get- he took the copy I gave to Bones, didn't he?" Booth asked.

"Technically, he just borrowed it. Come on, you're not gonna bust him, are you?" Angela asked in a pleading tone.

"No, I'm not. But you know, he could have just handed it to me."

"Yeah yeah. I think you should go to bed now. You've got a busy day ahead of you," Angela reminded, hoping she could catch a front row seat to the fireworks.

"Yeah, sure. See you tomorrow, Angela." With that last distracted goodbye, Booth hung up the phone.

Angela smirked as she snuggled under her covers.

*I hope they're ready for tomorrow. They may just spontaneously combust, what with the amount of sexual tension they've built up over the years*

With this last amusing thought, Angela drifted off to a very interesting dream-filled sleep.

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Booth hung up from his conversation with Angela, still a little shocked over his new discovery, but thinking up creative ideas to ask Brennan out at the same time. Once he got over the shock part, he realized he couldn't really ask her out yet, because he would be leaving for a couple weeks, and that just doesn't make sense.

*I'll ask her when I get back,* he decided.

Having figured on a course of action, Booth went to bed, having also decided that he needed sleep before the emotional morning of goodbyes ahead of him.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **Ok, so they may be out of character a little (ok, a LOT), but I really couldn't help myself. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Don't forget to review!

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Brennan woke up early the next morning, confused as to why her laptop was on her lap and she was sitting up. The previous nights discoveries rushed back to her as she moved her laptop to get out of bed.

*So what the hell am I supposed to do now?!* she thought frantically.

*I guess I'll just go and see what happens.*

She bit her lip, deliberating over whether or not to call Angela. Just as she had decided she needed some girl talk, her phone rang.

"Brennan," she answered, not checking the caller ID first.

"Hi sweetie. What's up?"

Brennan looked at the phone suspiciously.

*Psychic powers aren't real, but sometimes, I swear….*

"I was actually just about to call you. But I think you may know what about. Do you know anything about a video that my dad may have given me last night to watch?" Brennan asked, figuring Angela already knew.

"Yeah, I know. Booth actually got a very similar tape to yours last night. He called me, freaking out a little. He doesn't know what to do. He'll probably ask you out, but not until he gets back. I think you should ask him out now. Like, at breakfast. Give him even more incentive to come home," Angela let out in one breath.

"Ok. Thanks Ange. See you at the diner later." With that, Brennan hung up, now completely sure of what she was going to do.

*Now, where's that blue shirt Booth likes…*

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Booth woke up, suddenly alert, and instantly began looking for what woke him up. He noticed nothing for a few seconds, then he heard someone knocking persistently at his door.

*I had another ten minutes to sleep….* he thought as he got out of bed.

He paused for a second and actually considered going back to bed, but decided it would take too much effort.

Who's there?" Booth said groggily as he made his way to the door.

"It's me daddy!" came the overjoyed voice of a seven year old boy.

Booth immediately perked up at the sound of his son's voice.

"Parker! Hey little man! What are you doing here?!"

"Well, mommy decided we had to see you before you left. I asked her really hard, and promised to do extra chores," Parker said, the last bit in a whisper in his dad's ear.

"Really? Well, I'm going to go to breakfast at the diner in a little bit, you wanna come with me?" Booth asked Parker, though he was also asking Rebecca, who was standing right behind Parker.

"Sure, that sounds great," Rebecca said.

"YAY! Hey daddy, is Dr. Bones gonna be there?" Parker asked excitedly. Booth grinned a little at his excitement.

"Yeah buddy, she is. I gotta go get ready. I'll be out in a couple minutes, ok?"

Booth ran back to his room to get dressed and comb his hair before grabbing Parker and heading to the diner.

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Brennan got to the diner about 20 minutes before she was supposed to meet Booth. She sat at their usual table and ordered coffee. She only had to wait about ten minutes before she spotted Booth and someone with very familiar dark blonde curls.

*Aw, he brought Parker. I love that little guy. He's so cute, and he loves Booth so much. He's really a lot like his dad, actually…God knows I can't see his smile without smiling back, just like his dad…*

By the time Brennan had finished her thought process, Booth and Parker had reached the door.

The second they were inside, Parker ran to the table with an excited "Hi Bones!" and gave her a big hug.

"Hi Parker," Brennan said, laughing at this enthusiasm.

"Bones, am I gonna see you while daddy's gone?" Parker asked, suddenly serious and sounding worried.

"Well, actually Parker, I'm going to call you every day, just to talk to you. Is that ok?" Brennan asked.

Parker pouted a little. "I guess that's ok. But I really want to see you. Could I come to the museum once? I can just sit in your office and be very very quiet, I promise," Parker said in a pleading tone. Brennan looked at the cute little boy pouting at her with pleading eyes.

"Your mother would have to be ok with it, but if she is, I have no problem with that," Brennan said, surprised to find that she really wanted Rebecca to say yes.

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Booth, who had hung back when Parker ran towards Brennan, went to the counter to order breakfast for the three of them. Once he was done ordering, he looked to where Parker and Brennan were sitting, and just observed them for a few minutes.

*They get along so well…and Bones says she's not good with kids…* he thought, a little smirk on his face.

*It's just so amazing. Parker is very attached to her, which is good. If I can work this right, she's going to be spending a lot more time with us once I get back…*

Hoping he could make everything work out, Booth finally made his way over to the table.


	12. Chapter 12

Brennan looked up from Parker to see his father headed towards their table. She got an uncharacteristic feeling of butterflies in her stomach.

*Ok, so he knows, and he probably knows that I know. No reason to feel nervous. It's just Booth.* Brennan tried to calm herself a little as Booth got to the table.

"Hey Bones. What were you and Parker talking about?" he asked, his usual grin on his face.

"Oh, well we were just discussing the possibility of Parker visiting me while you're gone. I told him it was up to Rebecca, but I have no problem with it," Brennan said, unable to not smile back.

"Well that's a great idea Bones! I didn't even think of that!"

"Well, it's nothing to do with me. It was all Parker's idea," Brennan responded.

"Is that ok daddy? That I visit Bones without you?" Parker asked, puppy dog eyes on full blast.

"Yeah Parker, it's great. Now you won't get quite as lonely with me gone," Booth said, hoping Bones would get that Parker needed reassurance from her that Booth would be coming back.

*I hate having to leave him…* Booth thought sadly.

His thoughts were interrupted as their breakfast's arrived at the table.

"Yay, you got me chocolate chip pancakes!" Parker exclaimed.

"Of course buddy. I know they're your favorite," Booth said, laughing as Parker dug into his pancakes like he was starving.

Since Parker was now occupied, he could turn his attention to his Bones.

They made some small talk, and soon Rebecca came to pick up Parker.

Rebecca, Booth, and Brennan discussed Parker visiting the Jeffersonian, and decided on times and dates. After Parker and Rebecca had left, there was a silence for a while. Booth couldn't quite figure out how to broach the subject, and was surprised and slightly relieved when Brennan spoke first.

"So, when you come back, do you think we could meet for dinner?"

"Well, sure. I mean, we eat together all the time, right?" Booth said.

"I mean as a date," Brennan clarified. Booth smiled at her direct approach.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

"Ok."

"Ok."

"So, your dad and Angela?" Booth asked, laughing a little.

"Yeah, apparently they decided we're slow, and they needed to take things into their own hands," Brennan said, "Not that I blame them. It did take us a while."

They had another one of their "moments," but this one was not so rudely interrupted. They just sat there for a minute, then Booth made a suggestion.

"Do want to walk around the park a little bit?" he asked, suddenly ready to leave the diner but not ready to go home. Brennan nodded, and they got up and Booth paid the check. Brennan, for once, did not argue over who got to pay the check. They walked to a little park nearby, holding hands.

*I don't know why we're holding hands…it just feels… natural, I guess,* Brennan thought, wondering why she felt like she was suddenly in high school again. They just walked around the park for a while, until Booth realized he had to go. He stopped Brennan and moved to stand in front of her, still holding her hand.

"Bones…I have to go now. But I will be back, soon."

"I know, Booth. I know."

They just stood there for a second, before Booth stepped forward, letting go of her hand to cup her face. He lightly brushed his lips across hers, before she took the initiative and deepened the kiss, not wanting to let him go quite yet. Too soon, though, he pulled back, and they walked back to their cars and, with one last goodbye kiss, Booth got into his SUV and drove away.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Here's the new installment. I'm not really good at writing the cutesy stuff, so I'm sorry if it sucked/sucks, I tried. 

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*Later that night*

Brennan sat on her couch, trying to relax, but was unable to stop worrying about Booth.

*He's going to come home. I know he will. If only through sheer stubbornness, he WILL come home.*

Brennan repeated the familiar mantra to herself again, trying to know that he would make it home, but her pessimistic side that tells her that everyone leaves kept trying to take over and break her down.

*Damnit, I need a distraction. Maybe I can call Angela.*

As soon as she had decided to call Angela, she grabbed her phone and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hi Ange. Can you come over?" Brennan asked, a tone of desperation in her voice.

Angela, puzzling over what was wrong, quickly realized that today was the day Booth left.

"I'll be right over, sweetie. Ok?"

"Yeah. See you in a bit," Brennan said, already a little relieved.

"Ok. Bye." Angela hung up the phone, a more than a little worried about Brennan.

*He had better come back…if he doesn't, I'll bring him back just to kick his ass.*

Angela thought about earlier that day, when she had called Booth and warned him.

"She's my best friend. If you break her heart, I will beat you over the head with a shovel. 'Kay?"

*Even though there's like, no chance of that AT ALL. I just HAD to do the best friend thing. It's so fun!* Angela thought, laughing a little. She sobered up pretty quickly as she remembered that she was supposed to be heading over to Brennan's house.

*Ok, so first I need some supplies…*

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Brennan sat on her couch still, trying to keep herself occupied until Angela arrived, when she heard a knock on the door.

* I only hung up the phone a few minutes ago, so it's not Angela…*

Curiosity piqued, Brennan got up and answered the door, looking through the peephole before opening the door. She let out an exasperated sigh.

"Hi Sully. Do we have a case or something?" she asked, annoyance evident.

"No, it's just, I know Booth left today, and I figured you could use some company," Sully said, trying to get her to let him in.

"Sorry, I already called Angela, she should be here in a few minutes. We're going to have a girls night." Brennan stood in the doorway, wishing Sully would get the hint to leave. No such luck.

"I'm sure you could call her back and cancel. I can help you tonight," Sully said, undeterred.

"Ok, well I just want to hang out with Angela tonight, ok? I have to get ready now. Call me when we have a case."

And with that, Brennan shut the door in Sully's face.

*Wow, that felt kinda good,* Brennan thought.

Kinda like hanging up on someone when you're pissed off,* she thought, sitting back down to wait.

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"Stupid…." Sully walked away from Brennan's door, mumbling some rather rude things about Brennan and various other people, such as her family and, you know, God.

He didn't seem to notice Angela walk past him at the building entrance, but she definitely noticed him and what he was saying.

*Holy crap, if Brennan could hear him…* Angela smiled at that thought, knowing that Brennan would beat the crap out of him if she did hear him.

*Maybe I'll tell her what he said….just for fun…*

Laughing to herself, Angela walked up to Brennan's apartment carrying various types of alcohol, some movies she was going to make Brennan watch, and a colossal amount of junk food.


	14. Chapter 14

*Several hours, multiple bags of Doritos, and more than a little alcohol later*

"Ok, I think you're just a little too buzzed to drive home. You wanna stay here tonight? I have a guest room," Brennan said, a little tipsy herself.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea…" Angela trailed off, not remembering what she was going to say.

"Oh, do you feel a little better now?" she asked, remembering what it was.

Brennan got a thoughtful look on her face.

"Yeah, a little. That might just be the alcohol talking though. I mean, I know Booth is going to come back. It's Booth. He got blown up, then he got tortured, then he got SHOT in the chest, and he's still around. I think he'd probably survive even if all three happened at once."

Angela had a thoughtful look on her face as Brennan was talking.

"You know, the only reason any of those things happened is because he was protecting you."

"Well, not when he got tortured. That was just to give us time to find him and so they wouldn't kill him before we could get to him," Brennan said.

"True, true," Angela said, nodding. "But seriously, you might not have seen it, but he's loved you for a long time."

Brennan was curious now.

"How long?" she asked.

Angela waved her hand around a little and said, "Well, since before the Gravedigger incident."

Brennan looked shocked. "Really? That long ago? Wait, he was dating Cam," she said, confusion creasing her brow.

Angela smiled. "Yeah, I know. He seriously freaked out when we couldn't figure it out. You know, he threatened that Thomas Vega guy."

"Seriously? Why?"

"Oh, well Vega said something along the lines of 'Just face it. If you can't put the ransom together in time, your partner is dead.'

So Booth got really pissed, pinned him to a table holding his throat, and said,

'If that deadline comes around, and my partner is still underground, I will END you. You understand? Three hours to live.' And all of this in his office at FBI headquarters, no less."

Angela laughed at the stunned expression on Brennan's face. It took a lot to shock her, so this was a rare expression.

*But I think she's completely sober now,* Angela thought, laughing again.

"He- he did that?" Brennan asked rhetorically, still in shock. She started thinking about everything Booth had done, realizing the list was extremely long.

"No Angela, I think it was even before that." Angela looked confused, so Brennan decided to elaborate.

"I'll be right back."

*What's she up to now?* Angela thought, trying to figure it out. She gave up and just decided to wait for Brennan to come back. Brennan walked back into the room, holding something Angela couldn't quite see.

"Do you remember the Epps case?"

Angela gave her a "duh" look.

"Ok, I mean the one with the accomplice. The second time we dealt with him?"

Angela nodded, shuddering at the memories.

"Well, I had to shoot someone. And I killed him. Anyway, it kinda freaked me out a little. So when I was still at the lab, late one night, Booth showed up. We talked about everything to do with the case a little, then he told me he had something for me. He reached into his pocket and brought out this."

She showed Angela the pig figurine in her hands.

"At the beginning of it all, when we found the body and the dog was guarding it, he asked if I had ever had a dog. I told him I always wanted a pig. Later he asked me what I would name a pig if I had one. So he bought me a pig, and named him Jasper," Brennan finished, looking at the figurine she held in both hands.

Angela had remembered something about halfway through Brennan's story.

"Yeah, Booth was asking Hodgins and others if we could buy you a pig together. I think he was being completely serious. But I think once he realized a real pig was a little impractical for D.C., he got you the figurine."

Brennan smiled at the thought of Booth asking everyone to help him buy a pig. Brennan reached into her pocket, and pulled out her mother's earring, the one she lost in New Orleans.

"Even before that, when we were in New Orleans, and I called him and told him I would be late getting back and he asked why and just flew down to help me out. And he found my earring… he risked his job for me, Ange, even then," Brennan said, tears in her eyes. "How could I be so stupid!? It was SO OBVIOUS!" Brennan said, shocked again, only this time at her stupidity.

Angela laughed.

"It's ok sweetie. This is always how this happens. Everyone on the outside can tell that the two friends are in love, but the two friends have no clue. Booth didn't figure it out either."

Brennan looked kinda confused. "What do you mean? I haven't done anything like what he has."

Angela laughed.

Again. (Hey, she's tipsy. Prone to laughter)

"Sweetie, remember when he was kidnapped? You had YOUR FATHER help you. Your father, who you weren't even sure you liked. You LIED to the FBI to save him. You had faith he would rescue you when you were kidnapped by the Gravedigger. You don't have faith. In anyone or anything. You shot a man to save his life. There are so many things you have done for him. There's probably more that I don't know about, but I know enough to know that you've loved him for a while too."

Brennan looked at her friend, and made a decision.

"I kissed him. When Russ came back, my dad told him to go to the FBI. So Booth arrested him. Russ asked to see his little girl, and I asked Booth to let him, so he did. When we were at the hospital, I thanked him. And he said, 'Don't thank me. According to the FBI, I found him here, 15 minutes from now.' So I kissed him on the cheek, and thanked him again," Brennan finished, waiting to see Angela's reaction.

Angela's eyes widened. "You kissed him on the cheek? That's so sweet!!!!" she said, in full squeal mode.

"Oh, and Christmas…"Brennan trailed off, not sure she wanted to have broken ear drums from the massive squeal that was coming.

"What about Christmas? What did you do?" Angela asked, desperately needing to know.

"Well, you know how I set up that Christmas thing for my dad? Well, I had to ask Caroline to write the letter to the judge. And she said she would, but only under one condition. So, IhadtokissBoothunderthemistletoeforfivestemboats," Brennan said, all in a rush.

Angela sat shell-shocked. "Could you repeat that?"

Brennan sighed. "Do you really need me to?"

Angela nodded. "Yeah, I do, cuz I could have sworn that you just said that you kissed Booth at CHRISTMAS and are just NOW getting around to tell me!!!!! And what does five steamboats mean?" Angela asked, her curiosity piqued.

"It's like, one steamboat, two steamboat….it's a way of counting off seconds," Brennan explained.

"So, wait, it wasn't just like a peck?"

Brennan blushed.

"Oh MY GOD!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DIDN"T TELL ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! But getting past that, is Booth a good kisser?"

"Ange, do we really have to discuss this?"

Angela gave her another "DUH!" look, but of much greater magnitude.

"Of COURSE we have to discuss it!!! That's what girls do!!!"

Brennan sighed. "It's Booth. Of COURSE he's a good kisser. But it's not like you're probably imagining. Caroline was right there. It was perfectly tame."

"Yeah, tame, you and Booth. Wait, if it was 'tame' how do you know—" Angela cut off, comprehension dawning on her face. "You kissed him AGAIN!?!?"

Brennan covered her ears a little. They had taken quite a beating already, and she was sure they would continue getting abused.

"Yes, I did. But it was just today, well, yesterday technically. It's after midnight. He brought Parker with him to breakfast, and we all just chatted until Rebecca picked up Parker. Then I asked him to dinner for when he gets back. He said yes, and we just made small talk for a while. Then he asked if I wanted to leave, so we left and walked around the park that was nearby. Then he kissed me. We walked back to our cars, and he kissed me again, only this time it was goodbye. Then he left."

Brennan finished her story, her voice sounding a little rough, and she felt like she had a lump in her throat.

"Oh sweetie, he'll be back. Soon. I know he will," Angela said, giving Brennan a hug.

"Hey, I got some ice cream. You want any?"

Brennan smiled a little. "Yeah, sounds good."

Angela and Brennan ate their ice cream, talking about more things Booth had done, and things Brennan had done.

Angela squealed again when she heard about the Christmas tree, accompanied by an "aawww" at the thought of Parker helping his dad out. Other than that, though, it was relatively quiet until the two of them decided to go to bed, with no intentions of waking up any time before 10, at least.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Ok, so this story will end up being pretty long. I hope it stays interesting enough for everyone to stick with it. Anyway, new chapter! Reviews are welcome!!!

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The next week passed, with little contact with Sully. There was one case, but it was easy. The husband did it, he confessed, case closed. Sully did try to persuade Brennan to have lunch or dinner with him more than once, insisting that they had to discuss the case, but she evaded him, using paperwork and bones from Limbo as excuses. After a couple days, though, Sully appeared to give up.

*Finally! I don't think that man knows how to take a hint. Or, in this case, read the giant flashing neon sign that said "I'M NOT INTERESTED,"* Brennan thought as she examined bones from Limbo.

"Hey Tempe! We got a case!" came a very annoying voice from behind her.

Brennan sighed.

*Great, and I just hoped I wouldn't have to see him again….*

"What's the case Sully?" she asked, trying to keep a civil tone, but coming off a little cold.

"Body found in an attic of a house. Just newly purchased, been on the market for a while, new owners opened up the attic to use for storage and saw a body just sitting up there. Previous owner is dead," Sully summarized.

"Great, well, just ship have them ship the body here. Tell them to collect everything near the body and bring it in as well," Brennan said, turning back to the examination table.

"What, you don't want to supervise?" Sully asked, surprised again.

"I'm a little busy, Sully. This is what the museum pays me for, after all. I'm sure the FBI team knows what to do."

Sully gave her an angry glare that she didn't see, because she had simply decided the conversation was over and was examining the bones on the table.

"Fine. I'll call you with an ETA for the body," Sully said, stalking off in a huff.

*Thank God, he's finally gone!* Brennan thought, not even noticing that she had acknowledged the existence of God.

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Sully's new case was even easier than the first. A burglar was in the attic, some extremely heavy boxes fell on him, trapped him and prevented him from breathing. Accidental death, no murder. Another week passed, and Brennan was anxiously awaiting Booth's return. He said he would most likely only be two weeks, but there hadn't been any specifics about when he would be back.

*If something happened, we would have heard already….wouldn't we?* Brennan thought, pacing in front of her couch in her office.

*I really should be getting home…it's late, and I haven't eaten dinner yet…* Just as this thought crossed her mind, she heard a 'thump' of something hitting the ground. Turning around, she looked for the source of the noise, letting out a gasp of surprise at the familiar face at the door.

"Hey Bones, long time no see," Booth said, his cocky grin already in place.

"Booth! You're back! Thank God, Sully was starting to drive me crazy!" Brennan said, extremely happy and relieved that he was home.

"Yeah, I am. And it's good to be back," Booth said, walking over to Brennan and giving her a hug.

"I missed you so much," Brennan whispered.

"I missed you too," Booth answered, tilting her chin up so he could look into her eyes. He slowly moved so that their lips touched, for just a second.

"So, how 'bout we go out for that dinner tomorrow?" he asked, trying to start a conversation so he wouldn't just keep kissing her.

"Ok. Where do you want to go?"

"I think I'm going to let it be a surprise…"

"Booth! You know I don't like surprises," she protested.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure that you're dressed appropriately. Just go to Angela, I'll tell her and she'll help you get ready. And no, she won't tell you either," Booth said, grinning when she tried to interrupt him.

Brennan sighed and rolled her eyes in mock exasperation.

"Fine. I guess I'll go along with it just this one time."

Booth smiled even wider.

"Good," he stated, kissing her again, this time not so chastely. In fact, the both of them were so distracted, they didn't notice Sully standing in the doorway, fuming.

*……I can't believe it…..* Words failed him completely as he shook with rage. He stormed off, being sure not to make noise to draw attention to himself.

*He is so dead….* Sully thought to himself as he got into his car, ideas for revenge running half-formed through his head.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Just so you know, this may eventually be a crossover, I haven't decided yet, so if you have an opinion, please review and I will take that into consideration for my later chapters.

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Brennan dropped Booth off at his place, since he had taken a cab to the Jeffersonian, then headed home to eat and go to bed. She couldn't stop wondering where they were going, and she couldn't stop thinking about that kiss…which was not normal for Brennan at all.

*It's because it's Booth…* said a voice in the back of her head.

*That's ridiculous,* she thought, brushing the thought away.

*I'm more comfortable with him than anyone ever. With him, I'm safe. Why would I think about kissing him so much?* Brennan sighed resignedly, and headed to bed.

*Maybe if I could get some sleep…I haven't been sleeping well lately, and I have been anxious about Booth…maybe that's it, because I was so stressed….*

Pondering this possible reason, Brennan got ready for bed and tried to sleep. Eventually, she succeeded in sleeping, though her dreams were filled with a certain FBI agent who was always around….

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In a dark alley, somewhere outside of D.C., a dealer was hanging out, waiting for his usual buyers to show. Instead, a new guy showed up. The dealer suspected nothing, at least, until the guy flashed an official looking badge. Badges like that generally elicit a deer-in-the-headlights look.

*But this dude hasn't grabbed any cuffs…*

The dealer, a little stoned himself, was extremely confused.

"Look, I will let you go with a warning, but I need to confiscate ALL your products. Ok?" The dealer handed over the drugs, no questions, just happy he wasn't going to jail. Little did he know, in a few days, he'd be in a much worse condition than being in jail. He figured the cop would report the bust, and his suppliers would know.

But corrupt cops don't care who they hurt.

The cop walked away, loaded down with enough illegal drugs to kill ...well....one very in shape FBI agent who weighed in at about 200-250 pounds.

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Angela walked into Brennan's office early the next morning with coffee, as she had every day before during Booth's absence.

To say that she was surprised when she saw Booth lying on Brennan's couch was a little bit of an understatement.

"Geez Angela. Are you trying to kill me?" Booth asked as Angela squealed

"Booth!" and grabbed him around the neck in a giant hug once he sat up.

"No, I just didn't know you were back!" Angela exclaimed exuberantly.

"So, do you know when Bones will be in?" Booth inquired of Angela.

"I don't know. Why? You got a case?"

"No, I just needed to talk to you." Angela looked intrigued.

"Oh? What about?"

"Ok, so I'm taking Bones on a date tomorrow night. Except, where we're going is a surprise to her. So I'm going to tell you where we're going, and you're going to go help her get ready to make sure she wouldn't get embarrassed by being under or over-dressed," Booth explained.

"Ooh, do tell!" Angela exclaimed.

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Don't forget to review!!!!


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Date and fluff!! Comin' your way!

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"Ange, are you sure this is right?" Brennan asked worriedly.

"Yes sweetie, it's right. It's definitely right," Angela reassured.

*Plus, Booth's eyes will fall out of their sockets. I just wish I could be there.*

"Are you sure? I mean, if I knew, I would stop worrying."

Angela laughed.

"You know, your acting skills have definitely improved. I'm not telling you. He's being romantic. Let him be romantic. You're going to love it, I promise."

Brennan still looked apprehensive, so Angela just let it go.

*I don't think anything I say will get rid of her butterflies…*

"Ok, sweetie, I think you're ready to go. What time is he picking you up?"

"Seven."

"Ok, I guess I'd better go, it's a quarter 'til. You look great sweetie. Don't forget, lunch tomorrow, ok? Call me if you need to postpone 'til Monday, 'Kay sweetie?" Angela said with a wink.

"Bye Ange," Brennan said, rolling her eyes.

"'Kay sweetie. Have fun," Angela said, once again winking at her best friend. Angela let herself out, nearly crying with joy.

*FINALLY!!!! They are going on a date!!! It only took about a thousand hints and four years!!!!* Angela thought, walking to the elevator. She cocked her head to the side as she thought of something else.

*Wait… neither one of them has had a serious relationship for…over a year! Poor Booth…I know Brennan has guys she calls for "biological releases," but I'm pretty sure Booth doesn't…in fact, he might not have slept with anyone since Cam!!!*

Angela shook her head, chuckling a little. *There were so many signs…..*

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*Ok, everything will be fine…just breathe,* Brennan thought, trying to calm herself.

*Why am I nervous? I'm never nervous about a date, and it's BOOTH.*

There was a knock on the door, and Brennan jumped.

*What's that phrase…'Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear?' I guess 'think' works too.*

She got up and answered the door, and then just stood there, jaw dropping.

*He looks…* She couldn't even form a coherent thought.

"Hey Bones. You ready?" He asked after he got over his own jaw dropping. She was wearing a red v-neck halter dress, fitted to her waist and flowing loosely down to her mid-calf. Her hair was down, wavy, and her makeup was down to perfection. (Angela is an artist, after all.) She was also wearing strappy red heels that wrapped around her foot and matched the dress perfectly and had about a two inch stiletto heel. Booth, on the other hand, was wearing a black button down shirt that was practically drool worthy, and jean.

*I really like that shirt…* Brennan thought, remembering another time when he had worn a similar shirt.

*Black button down works for him…* Brennan shook her head a little as though to clear her thoughts.

"Yeah, just let me grab my purse. Where are we going? Are you going to tell me yet?" she asked while grabbing her purse.

"Nope, you just have to wait until we get there," Booth said, knowing that not knowing was killing her.

"Fine. Then let's go!" Brennan said, pushing Booth out the door and turning around to lock it, knowing Booth would yell at her if she didn't. Booth laughed silently to himself as he escorted his date to his vehicle.

*My date…I like that…of course, she would kill me if I referred to her as "Mine."*

They got into the car, Booth driving, as usual. It wasn't a very long drive, but by the end of it Brennan had won two arguments and Booth was avoiding another discussion about religion. They arrived at their destination, and Brennan looked up, confusion written on her face as she saw where they were.

"Wong Foo's? Aren't we a little overdressed?"

"Not tonight Bones. Not tonight." Brennan let Booth help her out of the car, something that never would have happened otherwise. Upon entering the familiar restaurant, Brennan couldn't help but gasp at the transformation. The restaurant they had eaten at so many times was suddenly perfect for a romantic dinner. No one else was there, except the wait staff and Sid, and most of the lights were dimmed, only one slightly brighter than the others directly over a table for two that had a single rose lying across each plate. Booth, meanwhile, was observing Brennan's reaction. Judging by the awe, he had done his job right. Booth walked over to the table, and pulled out a chair for Brennan.

"Would you like to take a seat, Bones?" Brennan looked at Booth and smiled.

"Booth, this is wonderful," she said as she sat down.

"I'm glad you like it. You ready to eat?" Brennan nodded, and Sid brought out their food, knowing, once again, exactly what they wanted. Initially, neither Brennan nor Booth knew exactly how to act, but eventually they just acted like they normally did. They made their jokes, they even argued a little. It was just like their normal dinners, which, if either of them had realized it, was probably why everyone always thought they were a couple. They always looked like they were on a date. They finished their meals, both wondering what would happen next. They left the restaurant, and Booth drove back to Brennan's apartment. He walked her to her door, and they stood there for a minute, awkwardly silent.

"So…you want a beer?" Brennan asked, turning to unlock her apartment door.

"Sure."

They entered Brennan's apartment, Brennan dropping her purse and keys on the table before heading into the kitchen to grab a couple beers. Booth sat down on the couch, and thought about what would happen. Brennan brought the beers out to the living room, and set them on the coffee table, removing her shoes.

"You wouldn't believe how hard those are to walk in," Brennan said jokingly, sitting down and opening her beer. They sat awkwardly, again.

"Look, Booth, I-" Brennan was suddenly cut off, by Booth kissing her. He pulled back after a few seconds, checking her expression to see how she would react.

"I'm sorry, I've waited-" Now it was Booth's turn to be cut off by Brennan kissing him. They continued to make out on Brennan's couch, each kiss more passionate than the last. Eventually, though, they came up for air.

"Look, I should go," Booth said regretfully.

"You don't have to, you know."

"Yeah, I do."

"Ok," Brennan said as Booth got up to leave.

"Wait." Brennan got up and walked over to where Booth was standing, and gave him one last goodnight kiss. Which lasted a few more minutes before Booth pulled back again.

"I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, Booth left Brennan's apartment and went home.


	18. Chapter 18

A/n: The reason Booth left is because he doesn't want to rush the relationship. He was being…."gentlemanly?"

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Brennan got ready for bed, slightly distracted by the memory of the date. She laid down, trying to get to sleep, but giving up after about an hour. She was working on another book, so she decided to grab her laptop and work on it, to see if she could at least be productive while she wasn't sleeping.

She began typing, barely noticing what it was she was writing, until she noticed that it was basically a play-by-play of her date with Booth, with Kathy and Andy instead of her and Booth. She quickly deleted the passages, giving up on writing anything for her book.

*Now what am I supposed to do?* she thought, desperately casting her thoughts about for something that could distract her.

*Nothing. Absolutely nothing. How can I, with my rather vast knowledge, not think of a SINGLE THING to distract myself!*

Brennan sighed, and gave up the idea of sleep. She finally allowed herself to relive her date, remembering just how perfect everything was. She got to the end of the date, but it ended much, much differently…Brennan woke up suddenly, to the sound of her cell phone ringing.

*Of course, it was just a dream…*

"Hello?" Brennan answered her phone.

"Sweetie…you must dish…." Angela's very excited voice came over the line.

"Angela. It's…9 a.m. I'm tired. How about we do lunch. About 1 o' clock?" Brennan asked.

"Why are you so tired sweetie? Anything fun happen to keep you up?" Angela asked, a wide smile on her face that Brennan could practically hear.

"Lunch. 1. Bye Ange."

"Ok, fine. Lunch, 1 o' clock. But don't think you're off the hook."

"Ok. Bye." Brennan hung up the phone, and went back to sleep.

Angela, however, sat staring at the phone for several minutes, dying for lunch time to come around. She got up and paced, unable to sit still any longer.

*Argh, this waiting thing sucks! It's like, when your favorite TV show gives you spoilers, and then you have to wait FOREVER to get the actual full story!!!* Angela paced some more, before finally deciding on a plan of action.

*I'll paint! I'll paint a 'wedding portrait' of Bren and Booth!!!* Angela squealed as she began planning her picture, which would, hopefully, be a premonition of things to come...

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Brennan walked into the diner at about a quarter 'til one, not surprised that Angela was already there. The second she walked inside, Angela practically attacked her.

"SWEETIE!!!! Ok, you've kept me waiting long enough!!! You must spill!!!!" Angela squealed as she ushered Brennan into her chair.

"Can I order first?" Brennan asked, laughing a little at Angela's enthusiasm.

"Nope. Spill, then eat."

"What do you want to know?"

Angela just stared.

"EVERYTHING!!!! Absolutely EVERYTHING!!!!"

Brennan sighed, smiled and started dishing everything, from the jaw dropping to the insomnia that plagued her in the evening. Angela just sat there, soaking everything in with an almost rabid look on her face. Her face had fallen a little when she found out that they only kissed, but she got over it eventually.

"So, do you guys have any more plans?"

"I don't know. Probably. We haven't specified anything yet," Brennan said.

Angela just studied her for a minute. Finally deciding that that was all, she said,

"Ok, NOW you can order."

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Please review!!!!


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Sorry it took so long, I was having some computer issues. :( I know it's short, but I'm in the process of writing more. :)

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*Booth's apartment.*

Booth sat on his couch, flipping through tv channels, a slight grin on his face as he remembered the night before.

*It's taken so long……* Booth thought, chuckling a little.

He refused to think that anything could screw it up, deciding instead to relieve their first date again and again. He was suddenly shocked out of his reverie by a knock on his door. Still shaking off the memory of the kiss, he answered the door, and, with a sensation like cold water being poured over him, he recognized Sully as his caller.

"Hey, man, I'm glad you're back," Sully said, exhibiting a large, seemingly genuine smile.

"Thanks. Everything go ok while I was gone?" Booth asked, attempting to keep himself from gritting his teeth while he allowed Sully into his apartment.

"Yeah, yeah, it was cool. Not a lot happened, nothing really difficult to solve," Sully answered, sitting on the couch. An awkward silence followed.

"So, you and Tempe, huh?" Sully asked, attempting to casually fish for information.

"Yup. According to Angela and Bones' father, it was a long time coming," Booth answered, a mildly self-satisfied and cocky smirk on his face.

"Really? Tempe's dad? You've met him?" Sully asked.

"Oh yeah, I even arrested him at one point, but that's all in the past now. He's a good guy, and so is her brother."

Sully nodded, a thoughtful look on his face. "Ok, well, I just wanted to say hi, and I'm glad you're back," Sully said, getting up.

"Ok, well, I guess I'll see you around the Bureau," Booth said standing up and opening the door. Good-byes were exchanged, and Booth exhaled a sigh of relief when the door finally closed.

*Well, _that_ was weird.*

Booth shrugged to himself, and sat back down on the couch. He sat for a moment, before smiling and reaching for the phone. He dialed, and waited for Brennan to pick up.

"Hey. You wanna grab a bite to eat tonight?" He smiled even bigger when he had an affirmative response.

"Great. I'll see you at 7."

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Yeah, Sully's being weird. You'll find out why eventually. Also, I asked a while ago what everyone thought about me possibly making this a crossover…and got no feedback. If you could help me out and tell me your thoughts, that would be great.


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